Southside Park renovations underway after years of planning

After years of planning and discussions, work is underway to renovate Southside Park.

The city of Beaufort and the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority are collaborating to build two dog parks and the beginning of a trail system.

The 30-acre site for the park is at the old BJWSA water-treatment plant near Southside Boulevard; plans to convert it to a park have been in the works for a decade.

BJWSA has promised to provide work worth $50,000, according to city landscape architect Liza Hill. It will include clearing a 60-foot-wide area between the park's roads and Waddel Road, mowing the site of the dog parks, moving asphalt millings and clearing underbrush.

Some of that work has already begun, resulting in a large debris pile that Hill said will continue to grow. BJWSA employees are working in the park on weekends.

Last week, members of the city's Park and Tree Advisory Commission began staking out the dog parks and marking large live oaks that will be saved. Half of the area to be used for the dog parks is on city-owned land, which was donated by BJWSA, and half is on land BJWSA still owns but is transferring to the city.

One park will be about an acre and reserved for large dogs. The other will be about half an acre for small dogs. Fencing is expected to go up starting in October.

Commission members also marked off a trail that will lead from the tennis courts on Battery Creek Drive to the dog parks. BJWSA employees will also clear a path and lay the asphalt millings to create a walking trail.

Amenities such as a dog fountain, benches, parking areas and picnic spots will be added as funding becomes available, Hill said.

Information: cityofbeaufort.org Follow reporter Erin Moody at twitter.com/IPBG_Erin.

Related content:

• Plans for Southside Park dog park, walking path move ahead, March 9, 2014
• Beaufort residents worried plan puts houses near Southside Park, April 8, 2013
• Preservation groups join forces to save Frogmore Lodge, Oct. 17, 2012

This story was originally published September 12, 2014 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Southside Park renovations underway after years of planning ."